Dionysos, god of wine, revelry, and ecstatic madness, is often shown carousing with his thiasos, or retinue. He is shown on this oil flask (lekythos) with three of his main followers, the maenads. Literally translated as “raving ones,” the maenads were always female, generally inebriated, and carried a thyrsus, a long stick wrapped in ivy or vine leaves and here topped by a cluster of leaves (more usually, a pinecone). Dionysos is twisted, looking back, and appears to be pouring wine from the tipped high-handled drinking cup (kantharos) he carries in his right hand. Grape vines wind around and through the scene, adding to the sense of frenzy that Dionysos inspired.